Great blue heron rescued from tree in Oakbrook Terrace is euthanized

A great blue heron found tangled high up in a tree in Oakbrook Terrace was euthanized Friday.

A visitor at a hotel in the western suburb spotted the bird hanging in a tree Tuesday night and called the fire department and the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, the organization said in a social media post. The bird had apparently been stuck at the top of the more than 30-foot tree since Monday.

Officials used a fire truck ladder to rescue the bird, but it had suffered injuries and exhaustion from being tangled in the tree, the organization said. The Chicago Bird Collision Monitors took the heron to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center.

The organization said Friday that the heron had suffered “permanent injuries that could not be repaired.”

“With no hope for recovery, the heron was humanely euthanized,” Chicago Bird Collision Monitors said. “In our rescue work, we know everything we recover does not survive, but the fact that so many people cared about saving this bird and not leaving it to suffer meant that its life mattered.”

The birds can grow to as long as 53 inches, weigh up to 5.5 pounds and have a wingspan of 79 inches.